Obama to visit Columbus area on Friday

COLUMBUS — Barack Obama plans a campaign trip to Ohio on Friday, his first as the Democratic nominee for president.

His campaign said Tuesday that Obama and his wife, Michelle, will hold an invitation-only meeting with seniors in the Columbus area.

The visit is part of the campaign’s “Change That Works for You” tour, a two-week swing across the country focusing on the economy.

“The middle class has always been the engine of prosperity in this country — but for nearly eight years we’ve had an administration that tells working people ’you’re on your own,”’ Obama said in a statement.

Republicans said Obama’s economic approach will hurt Ohioans by raising too many taxes.

“Ohioans have serious concerns about Obama’s tax-and-spend policies that will explode the budget on the backs of the hardworking people of this state,” said John McClelland, a spokesman for the Ohio Republican Party. This will be Obama’s first visit to Ohio since March when he and Hillary Rodham Clinton held rallies in Westerville in suburban Columbus on the same day.

Republican nominee John McCain has been in the state three times since wrapping up the Republican nomination, including trips to Cleveland, Columbus and Youngstown.